Chimera chasers

The BJP’s disconnect with emerging political realities prevents it from taking the Congress head-on in the next elections

Setback after dire setback apparently makes no dent in the BJP’s dogged conviction that it is destined to return to the helm of affairs at the Centre. It is of course entitled to make a bid for power but so far the tactics it has deployed to reach that objective suffer from serious infirmities. As the deliberations of its just concluded national executive meeting show, the party leadership takes it for granted that the Congress, a ‘sinking ship’, will collapse ‘under the weight of its contradictions.’ The Congress indeed has a long way to go before it recovers the ground that it has swiftly lost as a result of recurring financial scandals, rising inflation and a vulnerable security environment. That, however, can bring only cold comfort to the BJP. For, time and again it has expected UPA-II to implode only to discover that the Congress managed, through means fair or lugubrious, to outwit the doomsayers.

The ruling party survived the exit of the Trinamool; it more than made up for the lost numbers by roping in the SP and the BSP to support it from the outside; it persuaded the DMK, that had disapproved of its tough economic measures, not to abandon the alliance. The BJP however did not give up hope. It sensed an opportunity when Ajit Pawar resigned as Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. On this occasion too the hope that UPA-II would soon meet its nemesis was belied as Sharad Pawar, the NCP supremo, left no one in doubt that his party would not desert the Congress either in Mumbai or in New Delhi.

All of this ought to have induced some introspection in the national executive. But none was forthcoming. If anything, the party vowed to roll back FDI in multi-brand retail should it come to power and in the bargain scared away corporate India, foreign investors and influential sections within the country itself. Moreover, the Supreme Court’s ruling that auction was not the only method allowed in the allocation of natural resources removes some of the sting from the BJP’s anti-corruption crusade against the UPA. Add to this the fact that BJP president Nitin Gadkari has taken recourse to legal action against a whistle-blower who has hinted at his connivance in the irrigation scam in Maharashtra. Until the courts clear him, a cloud of suspicion is bound to hover above him.

Take next the homespun advice of Gadkari to his party leaders to set aside their ‘personal ambitions’ to enable the BJP to win the next elections. Whether it would make an iota of difference to the party’s powerful regional satraps is far from clear. Narendra Modi for one simply cannot be expected to rein in his prime ministerial designs, especially if he gets a third term in office. Meanwhile, the sulking leader from Karnatka, Yedurappa, chose not to show up at the national executive do at all. His would be a decisive voice to shape the party’s electoral fortunes in the state.

To his credit however Gadkari did condemn in no uncertain terms the vile anti-Islam film that has sparked violent protests across the Muslim world. What impact the statement would have on the Muslim community remains to be seen. The community would do well not to dismiss it out of hand for any sign that the sangh parivar is sensitive to the concerns and grievances of the minorities should be welcomed even by those who are otherwise chary of the BJP’s ideological moorings.

The condemnation of the film was, alas, the only right note struck at the deliberations of the national executive. Everything else was tantamount to chasing chimeras. A pity.